Providing tools and support to community members to create local initiatives that build local capacity and leadership, increase environmental sustainability, and foster greater livability and vitality.

Harness Purchasing Power

Local governments can make a big impact on communities through the things they buy. Each year, state and local governments spend more than $400 billion on products and services. By harnessing this purchasing power, governments can help shift markets in favor of environmental and socially preferable products.

Get institutions in your community to adopt "responsible purchasing" policies that encourage them to buy products and services that are less harmful to the environment and human health. Through greater energy efficiency and other savings, the switch may even boost their bottom lines.

The Responsible Purchasing Network, launched by the Center for a New American Dream in 2005, is a diverse network of stakeholders that promotes and practices responsible purchasing by identifying best practices, developing effective purchasing tools, educating the market, and utilizing its collective purchasing power to maximize environmental stewardship, protect human health, and support local and global sustainability.

In 2010, RPN spun off to be an independent group and merged with the Green Purchasing Institute to broaden its services and expertise. It continues to operate as the Responsible Purchasing Network, now based in Oakland, California.

We seek to cultivate a new American dream—one that emphasizes community,
ecological sustainability, and a celebration of non-material values.